“Where I live, it's a crisis. I personally, as a stay-at-home mom, couldn't contribute financially and I felt like I had to help.”

A Muslim woman just completed her seventh marathon, but this race was like no other for her. With every footstep in the notoriously challenging Boston Marathon, she was raising money to support Syrian refugees.

Rahaf Khatib, 33, who lives in Michigan, is the daughter of Syrian immigrants. She was born in Damascus, Syria, and later came to the United States with her family. She is also the first woman wearing a hijab to be featured on Women's Running magazine.

According to unofficial results from the 2017 Boston Marathon website, Khatib completed the race in about 5 hours, 13 minutes. She was able to raise $16,000 through the race. She plans to donate the money to Syrian American Rescue Network, which is a Michigan-based nonprofit that helps refugees adjust to life in America.

A post shared by #runlikeahijabi By Rahaf K.?? (@runlikeahijabi) on Apr 17, 2017 at 7:53pm PDT

Khatib said she felt the urge to run for refugees as there was a "deep need" for aid within her community. So, she decided to help them by running for them.

“Where I live, it's a crisis. I personally, as a stay-at-home mom, couldn't contribute financially and I felt like I had to help. This is giving back to both humanity and giving back to the running community,” she said.

“They need support. They are our guests in our country, and we need to be good to our guests. And how can I not help? They're in my backyard.”

Khatib started running five years ago and has raced in the Berlin and Chicago marathons, among others.

A post shared by #runlikeahijabi By Rahaf K.?? (@runlikeahijabi) on Apr 16, 2017 at 3:07pm PDT

Khatib also runs a blog where she inspires Muslim women to get active.

"I never really imagined myself as a figure on social media. I'm just an average Joe runner who's trying to make a point and break stereotypes. Everyone I followed on social media was a white runner; running is a very predominantly white sport. You don't see many hijabi runners out there," she said.

She further added that when she started her blog, her main focus was to provide answers that she couldn't find online about running as a Muslim woman. Simple questions that arose included: How do you cover up and run in the summer months? What kind of training schedule do you follow when you're fasting during Ramadan?